Attachment for railway cars



Oc t 13, 1942. D. F. MOORE ATTACHMENT FOR RAILWAY (TABS Fi led Oct. 9, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Oct. 13, 1942 UNITED STATEfi i iaTENT OFFICE ATTACHMENT FOR RAILWAY CARS Donald F. Moore, Villa Park, Ill.

Application October 9, 1941, Serial No. 414,389

9 Claims.

This invention relates to a device adapted to form an attachment for railway cars of various types and more particularly to a device to provide means whereby railway cars may be readily lifted off of a pair of rails and transported laterally, relatively to the rails, to a point where the railway car will not obstruct the passage of other cars along the rails.

More particularly, it is an aim of the invention to provide an attachment of the above described character of simple construction which can be easily applied to a railway car and which will not interfere with the normal use thereof.

Still a further aim of the invention is to provide an attachment by means of which a railway car may be removed from the rails On which it is mounted at any point along the rails and thus eliminate the necessity of providing sidings;

Still a further aim of the invention is to provide a device which will support a railway car, on which the device is mounted, in an elevated position, when the car is removed from the tracks, and which can also be employed for returning the car to a position on the tracks or for moving the car from one pair of tracks to another pair of tracks.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafter become more fully apparent from the following description of the drawings, which illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention, and, wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view showing the attachment mounted on a railway car and disposed in an inoperative position,

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the same,

Figure 3 is, an end view in elevation of the same taken substantially along the plane of the line 33' of Figure 1,.

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken substantially along the plane of the line 4-4 of Figure 1,

showing the attachment in engagement with one of, the rails and showing the car on which the attachment is mounted supported thereby and partly removed from the rails, and showing the parts in dotted lines in the positions that they will assume when the attachment is completely removed from the rails, and

Figure 5 is an enlarged sectional view taken substantially along the plane of the line 5-5 of Figure 2.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, wherein like reference characters designate like or corresponding parts throughout the different views, Ill designates a pair of rails, II a railway car, and I2 the wheels of the car which are substantially concentric to the hub I9.

adapted to engage and run on the rails I I]. These parts are of conventional construction and form no part of the present invention but have been shown and described merely to better illustrate the application of the invention.

Furthermore, only a very simple embodiment of a railway car has been shown but it is to be understood that the attachment, designated generally I3, and comprising the invention, is adapted to be mounted on railway cars of various construction.

The attachment, designated generally at I3, includes a pair of bearings I4 having depending brackets l5 which are adapted to be connected to the ends of the body of the car II by fastenings I6 for positioning the bearings I4 thereabove and in longitudinal alignment to one another. A shaft or axle I'I extends through and is journaled in the bearings I4. The ends of the shaft Il project beyond the remote ends of the bearings I' l. A wheel segment I8 is fixed to each end of the shaft. or axle II. Each of the wheel segments 5% includes a hub I9 which is mounted on an end of the shaft I1 and which is secured thereto by means of a set screw 20, which extends into a recess 2I in the shaft H. The recesses 2| are disposed in the same position circumferentially of the shaft IT, for a purpose which will hereinafter become apparent.

As seen in Figures 3 and 4, the wheel segments, I8 each includes a band 22 formed. of an elongated strip of metal the ends 23 of which are turned inwardly and secured at their terminals to the hub I9 of said wheel IS. The inturned ends 23 form a portion, designated 24, which is disposed in close proximity to the hub l9 and the intermediate portion of the band 22 forms an arcuately shaped portion 25 which is disposed Wheel segment I8 also includes a spoke 26 which projects radially from the hub I9 and which is connected. to the arcuately shaped portion 25 substantially intermediate of the ends thereof. The two wheel segments I8 are rigidlyconnected to one another by a pair of bars 2'! which are connected to the arcuately shaped portion 25, at their ends, and adjacent to the spokes 26, as best seen in Figures 2 and 3.

Referring to Figure 5, one of the bearings I4 is provided with an opening 28 whichextends into the bore thereof. The shaft I1 is provided with an opening 29 which is disposed parallel to re cesses 2I and substantially parallel to spokes 26. A pin. 30 is. loosely anchored to said bearing I4 by an elongated flexible member, such as the chain 31, and is adapted to be inserted into the openings 28 and 29 when the wheel segments l8 are in the positions, as seen in Figures 1 to 3, to hold the restricted portions 24 of the wheel segments l8 in depending positions.

When the attachment I3 is thus disposed, it will be out of engagement with the rails III as the restricted portions 24 will be disposed thereabove and spaced therefrom so that the attachment I3 will be held by the pin 38, engaging in the openings 28 and 29, in its inoperative position as seen in Figures 1 to 3. If it is desired to move the car II from the rails It, pin 38 is removed and one of the bars 21 is grasped to revolve the wheel segments l8. It will be readily apparent that the wheel segments l8 will turn as a unit so that corresponding ends of the arcuately shaped portion 25 of the two wheel segments l8 will simultaneously move into engagement with one of the rails It]. A further movement of the attachment IS in the same direction will cause the wheels I2 to be raised from the rails as the distance from the hub I9 to the ends of the arcuately shaped portion 25 is greater than the distance from said hub to the portions of the wheels l2, which are in engagement with the rails I0. Thus it will be seen that the car II is supported in an elevated position by the attachments l 3, as seen in Figure 4. By continuing the turning movement of the attachment I3, the rim portion 25 of the wheel segments 18 will roll off of said rail and onto the roadbed 32 to one side of the rails I0 and by continuing the rotation of the attachment l3 through an arc of substantially 180 degrees the attachment [3 and the car II will be disposed in the positions as seen in dotted lines in Figure 4 to one side of the rail l0 and sufiiciently removed therefrom so that said parts will not form an obstruction to prevent passage of other rolling stock over the rails ll]. As seen in dotted lines in Figure 4, the intermediate portions of the arcuately shaped rim portions are resting on the roadbed 32 and the car II is suspended beneath the axle of shaft H with the wheels l2 elevated substantially above the roadbed 32. With the parts so positioned, it will be readily apparent, that the pin can be reinserted through the openings 28 and 29, so as to extend through the opening 29 from the opposite end thereof, to hold the parts in positions as seen in dotted lines in Figure 4. Obviously, the rotation of the attachment l3 could be continued for moving the car H laterally onto another pair of rails I0, not shown, which are disposed substantially parallel to the rails from which the car ll was removed. Likewise, by turning the attachment l3 in the opposite direction, the car ll could be replaced on the rails Ill. The arcuately shaped portions 25 are sufficiently large in diameter so that a rough or uneven roadbed surface 32 will not interfere with moving car II onto or off the rails Ill. It will also be readily apparent that while the car [0 is supported and being moved on the attachment 13 that it will remain in substantially a normal upright position as shown in the drawings.

From the foregoing it will be readily obvious that the attachment l3 provides means whereby cars can be removed laterally from rails, thus eliminating the necessity of providing sidings onto which railway cars can be moved while not in use, and further to enable a car to be removed from a pair of rails at any desired point therealong. Obviously, the attachment 13 could also be used for moving other types of carriers laterally.

Various modifications and changes are contemplated and may obviously be resorted to, provided they fall within the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter defined by the appended claims, as only a preferred embodiment of the invention has been disclosed.

I claim as my invention:

1. In combination with a carrier, wheel segments rotatably mounted on the ends of the carrier and disposed with the planes of said wheel segments substantially crosswise to the longitudinal axis of the carrier, said wheel segments having restricted portions, forming parts of the peripheries thereof, and which are disposed in closer proximity to the centers of the wheel segments than other portions of the peripheries thereof, and which are normally disposed in depending positions and out of engagement with the surface on which the carrier is disposed, said wheel segments being rotatable for moving said other, last mentioned portions of the peripheries into engagement with the surface on which the carrier is disposed, to cause the wheel segments to function as cams, for raising the carrier out of engagement with the surface and for conveying the carrier, while in an elevated position, in a direction laterally of its longitudinal axis, said wheel segments being mounted on the carrier above its center of gravity and substantially centrally of its sides.

2. A device as in claim 1, bearings mounted on the ends of said carrier, a shaft journaled in said bearings, said wheel segments being keyed to said shaft so as to revolve therewith as a unit.

3. A device as in claim 1, and members connected to corresponding portions of the wheel segments to cause said wheel segments to turn as a unit.

4. A device as in claim 1, and means for holding said wheel segments in a fixed position relatively to the carrier.

5. A device as in claim 1, said wheel segments each including a hub, a band having an arcuately shaped portion concentrically disposed to the hub and forming the last mentioned portion of the periphery thereof, and the ends of said band being curved inwardly and secured to the hub to provide the restricted portion thereof which is disposed in closer proximity to the hub than the arcuately shaped portion of the band.

6. A device for removing railway cars from the rails on which they are mounted, comprising wheel segments rotatably mounted on the ends of a railway car and above its center of gravity and disposed in planes substantially at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the car, said wheel segments being disposed substantially centrally of the sides of the car and having rim portions disposed at different distances from the axes of the wheel segments, portions of said wheel segments, disposed in close proximity to the wheel axes, being normally disposed in depending positions and above and out of engagement with the rails, on which the car is mounted, said wheel segments being rotatable for moving other portions thereof, more remotely disposed to the wheel axis, into engagement with one of the rails, on which the car is mounted, to cause the wheel segments to function as cams for raising the car out of engagement with the rails, and for transporting the car laterally away from the rails.

7. A device as in claim 6, comprising means unit, each of the cam members including an arcuately shaped rim portion, disposed substantially concentric to its center, and a restricted rim portion, disposed in closer p o y d center than the arcuately shaped portion, the

restricted portions of the cam members being normally disposed in depending positions and out of engagement with the supporting surface of the carrier, and said cam members being rotatable for moving the arcuately shaped portions into engagement with said surface for elevating the carrier and for transporting it in a direction laterally of its longitudinal axis.

DONALD F. MOORE. 

